Five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton has had his Australian citizenship application approved, sources told ESPN, with a swearing-in ceremony scheduled ahead of the commencement of the 2025-26 NBL season.
The approval is a positive outcome for arguably the greatest player in NBL history, following an arduous citizenship process he began in 2019, with the Arizona-born guard facing multiple hurdles en route to finally becoming an Australian. Cotton personally hired Ricky Bustos of WPM Lawyers -- a firm that has expertise in workplace migration law -- to guide his citizenship process.
Once Cotton attends his ceremony to officially become an Australian citizen, the 33-year-old -- who signed a three-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers this offseason -- will be regarded as a non-restricted player, which means he can be designated as a marquee.
A marquee designation will allow the 36ers to pay Cotton his salary -- which is the largest in NBL history, sources said -- while the contract hits their cap at a lower, fixed figure.
Going into the 2025-26 season, a team's first marquee player will hit the cap at $250,056.15, while a second will be a $333,409.66 cap hit. A third marquee's cap hit is set at $416,761.71, and a fourth is $500,113.77. The luxury tax relief the 36ers will get from designating Cotton as a marquee is expected to be upwards of $400,000, sources said, with the figure likely to be higher.
With Cotton set to become a non-restricted player, that would leave the 36ers with only Montrezl Harrell and Zylan Cheatham as imports. Teams are permitted to sign three imports, so the 36ers could theoretically be back on the market to sign an American. The expectation, sources said, was that the team wouldn't rush into that decision; instead, they're likely to wait until the middle of the season to gauge what their needs, if any, may be. A team can only have a combined four imports and marquees.
This development will also make Cotton eligible to represent the Australian Boomers -- the country's senior men's national team -- as a naturalised player.
Cotton's impending citizenship brings to an end a saga that had many hiccups along the way; most of which were out of his control. In 2021, Cotton recieved a four-year ban from applying for Australian citizenship because of an administrative error that left him in the country without a visa for 30 minutes. That ban was extended after Cotton spent more than 90 days outside of Australia in the final 12 months of the sanction.
Cotton was permitted to apply for his citizenship in the middle of 2025, and worked with his personal lawyer through that process to ultimately become an Australian.
Cotton is widely regarded as one of the NBL's greatest players, winning five MVP awards, three championships, and two Grand Final MVP awards during his time with the Perth Wildcats from 2017-2025. In that span, he was also named to eight All-NBL First Teams, and is an eight-time scoring champion. He signed a multiyear deal with the 36ers this offseason, in what was the largest contract in league history.